Sialkot Stallions entered their maiden Champions League T20 with an awe-inspiring domestic record. They had won Pakistan's Twenty20 competition seven out of nine times and possess a world-record winning streak of 25 matches. However, on a Wanderers pitch that bounced and seamed, they were undone by Auckland Aces' pace attack and their own desire to swing with abandon.

The predominant features of Sialkot's innings were batsmen playing and missing and an abundance of dot balls; their attempts at counter-attacking were short lived. Their batsmen cleared the Wanderers' boundaries ten times but managed to score only 130. It was the third-lowest total for an innings that contained ten sixes; the first two were chases in which the target was easily achieved.

The target was well below par and Auckland's openers, Martin Guptill and Lou Vincent, handled the bounce better than their counterparts did. The opening stand of 32 put the chase on course and the second-wicket stand of 51 between Guptill and Azhar Mahmood gave them an opportunity to win with a high net run-rate. They lost a couple of wickets in quick succession but New Zealand's domestic champions managed to get home with 17 balls to spare.

Gareth Hopkins, the Auckland captain, got what he wanted despite losing the toss, and Kyle Mills and Michael Bates made excellent use of the conditions. On a green-tinged pitch, the right and left-arm combination harried the Sialkot openers with short-of-a-length deliveries. After Imran Nazir was smacked painfully on the glove, Shakeel Ansar attempted a big hit in Bates' first over and holed out to mid-on. The No. 3 batsman Haris Sohail took 12 deliveries to get off the mark, before Nazir ended two consecutive maiden overs by pulling Bates over the fine-leg boundary.

There were 24 dot balls in the first five overs, after which Sialkot were 11 for 1. Mills' figures were 3-1-4-0. The sixth went for plenty. Mahmood's length was poor and Sohail hit him for two sixes in an over that cost Auckland 18. Both Sohail and Nazir, however, were caught at point attempting aggressive shots in successive overs, leaving Sialkot 30 for 3.

Shahid Yousuf was Sialkot's best chance at recovery and he hit Andre Adams, bowling extremely quick for a five-step run-up, for consecutive sixes in the ninth over. In the next, Yousuf took two fours off Colin Munro's only over. At the other end, however, Shoaib Malik was struggling, scoring only 3 off his first 11 deliveries.

Yousuf was reprieved twice off Ronnie Hira - Hopkins failed to collect and stump the batsmen - before the spinner took a catch off his own bowling to stunt the Sialkot recovery. Malik's innings ended via a catch at long-off and Sialkot slumped to 97 for 6 before the tail got stuck into Hira's final over, the 18th. Naved-ul-Hasan and Ali Khan took 21 runs off it. Mills, however, returned to clamp down on Sialkot once again. His last over went for only two runs and he finished with figures of 4-1-6-2.

Faced with a middling target, Auckland began the chase aggressively. Vincent charged, pulled and slashed to provide the early propulsion. He was beaten often as well, but managed 20 off 16 balls before being caught at third man on the cut. Guptill began at around run a ball and steered Auckland through the first half of the chase. His only six came in the tenth over, a 98 metre blow over long-on, and he was out in the next, pulling powerfully to the fielder on the midwicket boundary.

Then followed Auckland's most tentative phase, as Mahmood and Colin de Grandhomme were dismissed in the space of four balls by Sarfraz Ahmed, a left-arm bowler who delivers off the right foot but well after his front foot as landed. The asking-rate, however, was never an issue and Anaru Kitchen and Colin Munro hacked at the equation with a series of powerful blows to accelerate the finish.

mohmadmashood- brother i never intend to degrade u r team , players. i have great respect for them but the way WICKYROYPAKLOVER & othrsr always posts insulting , degrading coments on our team , players than only i respond with facts, stats , reg my coments on malik & OTHERS i mean they represented PAK national team ,

Madurai
on October 11, 2012, 9:16 GMT

To all pak fans, so now these guys are just local players?? just before the game these fellows were world beaters. What one loss does to people ha ha.

@g.narishma dear buddy Imran nazir shoaib malik rana nd raza hasan are not international players??????????????? for SS. SS iz there home team........... if u consider them international players den in CSK there are 11 inter playrs................... 4 overseas dhoni raina vijay ravinder jadeja balaji ashwin............nd 1 more thing u can not perdict a team with 1 match only........ i hope they will come out strongly today ns performing much better dan d oder day

Karthik
on October 11, 2012, 1:22 GMT

@Indian fans making fun - Common guys, that team has all local players.. Can you ever imagine our IPL teams wihtout foreign players.. how badly it would fare against these teams.. And this is just a T20, and 1 single game. Pretty sure they are still as good as if not better than any of the IPL teams..

SABIR
on October 10, 2012, 18:35 GMT

its very hard to understand for me how a side liike SS become champion with no world class player where r razzaks,akmals and ajmals??????

SABIR
on October 10, 2012, 18:32 GMT

Shahid Yousuf looks a different class.Can some one tell me has he ever played for pak or his reputation in pak domestic cricket . i think i had seen him in ICL playing for Lahore Badshahs in india.He looks a very confident player hitting sixes at ease.

SABIR
on October 10, 2012, 18:25 GMT

very very poor captaincy by mallik by choosing bat first instead of ball then keep on saying 130 is good total and great batting by us also very very poor bodylanguage looks like a looser.the only batsman from ss that looks good was shahid yousuf he looks a different player with his technique that seperates him from rest.There was

uzma
on October 10, 2012, 14:34 GMT

this champions leauge is a joke why do domestic champions like hampshire and sialkot have to qulify for the main event, dead rubber tommarow for sialkot and hampshire. so obvious that whom this tournement is desighned for absalute ludricos.

narsimha
on October 10, 2012, 14:30 GMT

WICKYROYPAKLOVER- U ARE as usual again making all sorts of degrading coments on IND last time our team dominated tests in SA the last test was saved by KALLIS more over last time in SA our IPL teram was champion & MURALI VIJAY RAINA all dominated go & chech archieves it is INDIANS who won matches here more over this is the place u must not forget becouse we defeated u r team not once but twice in 2007& our YUVRAJ hit 6 sixes , so dont compare u r loser team with us look out for our players performance we have allready seen u r greats ,

narsimha
on October 11, 2012, 14:42 GMT

mohmadmashood- brother i never intend to degrade u r team , players. i have great respect for them but the way WICKYROYPAKLOVER & othrsr always posts insulting , degrading coments on our team , players than only i respond with facts, stats , reg my coments on malik & OTHERS i mean they represented PAK national team ,

Madurai
on October 11, 2012, 9:16 GMT

To all pak fans, so now these guys are just local players?? just before the game these fellows were world beaters. What one loss does to people ha ha.

@g.narishma dear buddy Imran nazir shoaib malik rana nd raza hasan are not international players??????????????? for SS. SS iz there home team........... if u consider them international players den in CSK there are 11 inter playrs................... 4 overseas dhoni raina vijay ravinder jadeja balaji ashwin............nd 1 more thing u can not perdict a team with 1 match only........ i hope they will come out strongly today ns performing much better dan d oder day

Karthik
on October 11, 2012, 1:22 GMT

@Indian fans making fun - Common guys, that team has all local players.. Can you ever imagine our IPL teams wihtout foreign players.. how badly it would fare against these teams.. And this is just a T20, and 1 single game. Pretty sure they are still as good as if not better than any of the IPL teams..

SABIR
on October 10, 2012, 18:35 GMT

its very hard to understand for me how a side liike SS become champion with no world class player where r razzaks,akmals and ajmals??????

SABIR
on October 10, 2012, 18:32 GMT

Shahid Yousuf looks a different class.Can some one tell me has he ever played for pak or his reputation in pak domestic cricket . i think i had seen him in ICL playing for Lahore Badshahs in india.He looks a very confident player hitting sixes at ease.

SABIR
on October 10, 2012, 18:25 GMT

very very poor captaincy by mallik by choosing bat first instead of ball then keep on saying 130 is good total and great batting by us also very very poor bodylanguage looks like a looser.the only batsman from ss that looks good was shahid yousuf he looks a different player with his technique that seperates him from rest.There was

uzma
on October 10, 2012, 14:34 GMT

this champions leauge is a joke why do domestic champions like hampshire and sialkot have to qulify for the main event, dead rubber tommarow for sialkot and hampshire. so obvious that whom this tournement is desighned for absalute ludricos.

narsimha
on October 10, 2012, 14:30 GMT

WICKYROYPAKLOVER- U ARE as usual again making all sorts of degrading coments on IND last time our team dominated tests in SA the last test was saved by KALLIS more over last time in SA our IPL teram was champion & MURALI VIJAY RAINA all dominated go & chech archieves it is INDIANS who won matches here more over this is the place u must not forget becouse we defeated u r team not once but twice in 2007& our YUVRAJ hit 6 sixes , so dont compare u r loser team with us look out for our players performance we have allready seen u r greats ,

Rajesh
on October 10, 2012, 13:45 GMT

@wicky.paklover we thrashed you fair and square in this t20wc..how was the thrashing mate?..dont even dream to beat India in wc's..hahaha

Kapil
on October 10, 2012, 11:47 GMT

From a neutral persepective, the tournament has got off to the WORST POSSIBLE START. Sialkot are now all but out - considering that ONLY the pool topper will qualify. Its going to be near impossible to qualify for Sialkot now as their RR too took a beating. As a result, Pakistan - the only country whose spectators were truly invested in this champions league - will not watch anymore. NZ, who might qualify Auckland instead of Pak's Sialkot, is neways not gonna watch due to time zone issues. And Indians dont care about this tournament as we too understand that having 4 IPL teams is really UNFAIR and hence even if an Indian team wins, it will be heavily unsatisfying. Plus, now we won't even have an Ind team vs Pak team match. This tournament is officially doomed....

Garry
on October 10, 2012, 9:43 GMT

MunafAhmed811I would of said the same if Auckland had lost, except it would of been "how embarrasing that we got beaten by some obsure club team from Pakistan, the Sialkot who?"

Wicky
on October 10, 2012, 9:23 GMT

Haris sohail must cnsidr this as a learning curve n i dn't expect anythng 4rm old horses i.e malik,nazir,rana bt I want youngstrs to do wel with likes of Raza,haris.THE STATE OF PITCH Z QUESTINABLE CNSIDRNG KYLE MILS WAS UNPLAYABLE MANY A TIMES N EVERYBDY KNOWS THAT HE Z JST A DECENT BOWLR,NT MORE THAN THAT.AUCKLAND HAVE GD CHANCES TO PROCED CNSIDRNG THEY HAV WRLD CLAS AL.ROUNDR LIKE AZHAR N PUNISHNG GUPTIL PLS VRY SUITABL MILS@g.narisma,nobdy z cmplaining,it z actualy a fact very soon going to b un.veild that ipl teams R "OVR.RATD" Jst bcoz of gayl,steyn,morkel,ab,husseys,warner Nt bcoz of balaji,pthan,zaher,dhoni or gambhir.

Wicky
on October 10, 2012, 9:07 GMT

@Rajeshindia,@Narbavi,lolz.wel my humble request z that if ipl managment can somehow be able to subtract 4 intl playrs 4rm respective indian franchieses then we would b able to show "REAL,HIDDEN TALNT" 4RM INDIAN BATSMEN HERE.WEL I HAVE NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT THEY R CLUELES AGAINST SHEAR PACE N BOUNCE EVEN IN SUBCNTINENTAL CNDITNS(FORGET NZ,ENG,SA,AUS) AS VENUES.PAK BATRS UNLIKE INDIAN BATRS,PLAYD WEL AGAINST MORKELS,STEYNS,CUMINS,KALIS,STARC WHERE as indians realy strugld against them during t20 cup.

Jacob
on October 10, 2012, 8:02 GMT

Ah now here's the conditions I know and love, been getting a bit tired of continuously watching subcontinent cricket. Well fought by Auckland who would be used to these green pacey wickets. Unfortunate for SS they looked like fish out of the water against steep bounce and swing, to be fair most of them would never have played on pitches like these. "Champions" league T20 is a joke though that these Pakistan, Sri Lankan, WI (T20 world champs ffs) and New Zealand champions have to go through a qualifying round yet India gets 4 teams (3 non-champs) and Aus & SA get 2 teams automatic entry. It should just be the champion teams of the top 8-10 nations, period. If you want more IPL teams throw them in the qualifying rounds with a bunch of other runners-ups, champion teams don't deserve to be relegated to this sub-league.

Dummy4
on October 10, 2012, 7:37 GMT

teams are allowed to have no.of foreign players as per their domestic tournament rules 4 for ipl teams ,2 for Aukland ,4 for spl team and none for t&T , SS.
Aukland has some good experience bowling attack . SS are talented but their front-line batters played like tail-endrs heaving at everything and missing more often.

Jeff
on October 10, 2012, 7:24 GMT

MunafAhmed811 I think you'll find Auckalnd are a little more then a domestic club side!! They're one of the NZ State sides (comparable to all other first class cricket around the world, including India) who happen to have 6 current or former International players in their side? The only difference with the IPL teams is the fact they have a shed load of money invested in them specifically for that tournament to bring in top international players from around the world and are allowed 4 of them. Whereas most of these other sides are limited to only 1 or 2 overseas players as per their contracted squad for the year.

narsimha
on October 10, 2012, 7:19 GMT

MAHMOOD MASOOD- lol it is not that INDIA only toured ENG-AUS last time , u cant rememeber our erlier outings to those places we need no certificates but the way we have been seeing the build up by pak fans on S S i was expecting it must be agreat team beating every team it faces but really desopointed , u r assertion that IND IPL teams are HAVING 4 OVERSEAS PLAYERS yes we do but it is not neccesserily all 4 are current intrnational players , at the same time u r S S is also having 4 internationanl players in SHOAB MALIK, RANA, IMRAN NAJIR, RAZAHASAN & I HAVE been reading coments on HARRIS SOHAIL& SARFRAJ AHAMAD as if they are great, so my dear no body stopped u r S S to have foriegnplayers ,

Dummy4
on October 10, 2012, 6:25 GMT

That was tough day at the office for stallions, but i am sure they will be up and kicking in the next match, i hope all three teams in both groups wins a single match and then it will be on run rates to see who qualifies, wish to see stallions in the main tournament showing their class to some of sub standard IPL teams, amazed to see people talk their heart out after just a single game, give a chance to a domestic side who may have come out first time in their life to perform internationally.

Dummy4
on October 10, 2012, 5:09 GMT

SS need some intl players. they will definitely need some time to get set on those pitches

Dummy4
on October 10, 2012, 5:06 GMT

Easy friends.. I reckon the outcome of this would have been shameful for Auckland had it been played in sub-continent.. The ball was doing a lot and since these local SS players never played a match outside Pakistan they will bat like turtles until n unless they adjust to the conditions. Although they lost badly but they are surely learning to play on SA tracks..

Dummy4
on October 10, 2012, 5:00 GMT

@ rajesh-india99 y d indian teams have 4 overseas players????????????????????/
u compare them wd SS who hv no overseas players............................. snd all d overseas palyers out of d team nd then c how the indian teams perform on a bouncy track?
i hope they will perform like india's tour of eng or austrailia

Dummy4
on October 10, 2012, 1:53 GMT

I think pak teams should include 4 foreign players like Ipl and slpl, then results will improve

Jay
on October 10, 2012, 1:13 GMT

@Shyam Palakodety: I don't think I can agree with you. UVA Next are an Asian team and they played pretty well. Their overseas stars didn't do anything special. I think it was POOR batting by the Stallions. They got intimidated by the conditions and by some excellent bowling by the Auckland team. I hope they come back and win the next game.

Dummy4
on October 10, 2012, 0:54 GMT

SS might be champions but they do not have stars or quality players. They will not go far.

Dummy4
on October 9, 2012, 23:39 GMT

By the same logic of most comments, the Auckland team.. for that matter most non-subcontinent teams will royally suck, crash n' burn, get beaten black and blue (add more colors if you will) IF the tournament was being played in subcontinent conditions. If you want to see the domestic India, Pak, SL teams flourish.. then we already have a recipe!!!

Jon
on October 9, 2012, 22:44 GMT

I must say it is hilarious watching the Pakistani batsman play on bouncy tracks, Indian batsman for that matter too. Whenever people watch SA, Eng or Aus batsman struggle against spin in the SC they are hounded as the worst cricketers ever seen. I must say it is hilarious to watch the Pakistani batsman backing away, not reading the swing and looking completely clueless against the swinging ball. Pakistan are going to get the worst beating when they tour SA later on. There spinners will find no help and the fact there batsmen don't fancy the short ball will be ruthlessly exposed. The only batsmen with decent techniques against the moving ball are the Sri Lankans. Indian and Pakistani batsmen are as bad against the swinging ball than the Aussies and English are against the spinning ball.

N
on October 9, 2012, 22:37 GMT

I think my fellow Indian fans should take it a little easy on SS here. In T20 anything can happen on any given day and it's not fair to judge SS from the first game they've played on a pacy bouncy pitch that suited Auckland more. I would like to see how they perform in the next game. It'll be nice to have atleast one team from Pak in the champions league.

ahmed
on October 9, 2012, 22:30 GMT

they are out of the tournament it meanss............ there isnt left anything for me in this .........

Shiv
on October 9, 2012, 20:34 GMT

A world record of 25 successive wins in Pak and once they come out they are trashed black and blue, shows the real class PPL and talent of SS and also Shoaib Malid, he is just good for domestics and of course against India.

Jay
on October 9, 2012, 20:05 GMT

Clearly the Pakistani club had no clue against the pace and bounce. What's even more funny was when their captain Shoaib Malik kept insisting 130 was a good enough score when repeatedly asked by Rameez Raja in an interview. 130 is NEVER a good score in T20s unless the surface is a dust bowl with the ball gripping and turning square. I was expecting a better performance by the Stallions.

Noman
on October 9, 2012, 19:41 GMT

Stallions looks out of the colors today. I see no energy in the team as we see in domestic T20 tournament. They still could win this match if Malik used his best bowlers on time ie Rana, Raza. Fielding was poor. Hope to see the best cricket in next match from Stallions.

Sreejith
on October 9, 2012, 19:12 GMT

Sialkot Stallions are over hyped!!!

Naveed
on October 9, 2012, 19:07 GMT

we have been waiting for Sialkot Stallions in champions league for last 4 seasons ..and finally when they got the chance .here comes the crushing defeat in qualifying match..uff

Munaf
on October 9, 2012, 18:48 GMT

SS was supposed to be the team that would whip IPL teams. What happened? Could not handle a domestic NZ club team???????????

India
on October 9, 2012, 18:47 GMT

Sialkot Stallions got thrashed just as expected. Hopefully this will answer why sub standard teams were not allowed in Champions League.

Adeel
on October 9, 2012, 18:39 GMT

It was like putting Pakistan team on Ireland tour facing british bowlers. Sialkot never in life saw tht much of grass even on thier courtyard pitches...but atleast a hard fight and aces deserves a win here

Madurai
on October 9, 2012, 18:32 GMT

my my my looks like the stallions were beaten like a rented mule ha ha ha

Rajesh
on October 9, 2012, 18:29 GMT

Oh dear!!nazir,malik,rana naved?are you serious?Pakistan team cupboard is Bare!!

Dummy4
on October 9, 2012, 18:24 GMT

this is the first time Pakistani Domestic players are playing an international tournament no problem if they qualify or not but they can get International exposure and it help them in futur

Ali
on October 9, 2012, 17:56 GMT

Ali khan is good Young Alrounder.....he Performed Good in Domestic with Bat

Yasir
on October 9, 2012, 17:05 GMT

I can see that Stallions are not feeling comfortable with the bounce and such a fast track..I hope they get used to it or else they are in deep trouble.They managed 130 thanks to tail hitting 6's like crazy

No featured comments at the moment.

Yasir
on October 9, 2012, 17:05 GMT

I can see that Stallions are not feeling comfortable with the bounce and such a fast track..I hope they get used to it or else they are in deep trouble.They managed 130 thanks to tail hitting 6's like crazy

Ali
on October 9, 2012, 17:56 GMT

Ali khan is good Young Alrounder.....he Performed Good in Domestic with Bat

Dummy4
on October 9, 2012, 18:24 GMT

this is the first time Pakistani Domestic players are playing an international tournament no problem if they qualify or not but they can get International exposure and it help them in futur

Rajesh
on October 9, 2012, 18:29 GMT

Oh dear!!nazir,malik,rana naved?are you serious?Pakistan team cupboard is Bare!!

Madurai
on October 9, 2012, 18:32 GMT

my my my looks like the stallions were beaten like a rented mule ha ha ha

Adeel
on October 9, 2012, 18:39 GMT

It was like putting Pakistan team on Ireland tour facing british bowlers. Sialkot never in life saw tht much of grass even on thier courtyard pitches...but atleast a hard fight and aces deserves a win here

India
on October 9, 2012, 18:47 GMT

Sialkot Stallions got thrashed just as expected. Hopefully this will answer why sub standard teams were not allowed in Champions League.

Munaf
on October 9, 2012, 18:48 GMT

SS was supposed to be the team that would whip IPL teams. What happened? Could not handle a domestic NZ club team???????????

Naveed
on October 9, 2012, 19:07 GMT

we have been waiting for Sialkot Stallions in champions league for last 4 seasons ..and finally when they got the chance .here comes the crushing defeat in qualifying match..uff

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